Education

Artistic director Jonathan Howard Katz is available to teach workshops, classes, and one-on-one or small group sessions for colleges and universities, dance centers, companies, groups of dancers, and individual artists. The format is flexible to the situation, and a sliding scale is available.

As an educator, Jonathan’s specialties are in helping choreographers and dancers develop their listening skills, knowledge, and awareness to be able to engage with music at a deeper level and expand their artistic toolkit; bridging the communication gap between the music and dance worlds to help artists collaborate more meaningfully; and demystifying the artistic, technical, and logistic complexities of working with music and musicians.

Formats may include:

• an intensive workshop at a university or dance center for in-progress works involving composer/choreographer collaborations and/or live music with dance;
• a lecture/demonstration on particular musical topics, or as a comprehensive overview;
• sessions with a dance company as it begins to work with live music, or to better get to know a particular piece of music;
• discussions with a small group of artists about musical topics and/or specific works;
• one-on-one sessions with artists interested in engaging more deeply with particular works of music, or to cover other topics of interest.

Topics may include:

• listening for dynamic musical form, from motive and phrases to larger structures;
• in-depth analysis of particular works;
• music history and historical context;
• meter and pulse;
• pitch, scale, and key;
• instruments and sounds;
• musical interpretation from a musician’s point of view;
• transitioning from recordings to live music;
• choosing between recordings;
• choosing repertoire;
• working with composers and musicians.

All topics and all formats may be approached with or without music literacy, and listening skills will be emphasized over reading scores.

For more information or to request a quote, please contact us!